Sometimes ads tell great stories, what can you learn from this one. · 11:14am Apr 13th, 2014
Watch this video, read my comments, and then watch it again and tell me what you think.
I found this to be a touching little ad, but why?
It makes good use of context and repetition. When starting out he is just a good guy, it's a up video meant to elicit positive emotions to a small degree. Then he is shown as if he is being taken advantage of, it elicits down emotions. Then it highlights what was missing from the second play through, it elicits very high emotions which are then enhanced by being contrasted with the down emotions.
It is the contrast and repetition that enhances the emotion. Once it starts highlighting the high emotions it continues. It reinforces the good emotions by repeating them. You know it's coming and are rewarded with something similar to what you were expecting, but it gets even more positive.
It says, "he gets nothing" and then shows that he does.
The girl disappears, but it's because she reached her goal.
So for your own writing remember, by using repetition you can play with emotions, tweak expectations, you can set people up to worry, and then surprise them with awesomeness just by playing on themes within the repetition.
It's one reason why Groundhogs Day was so good, and it's one reason why The Best Night Ever was such a good fic.
I love these ads.
I actually wrote a fic based off of one of them.
2005963
Lol, nice.
I remember an ad from this company as well. We watched it in my ASL class.
It was about a girl who was made fun of for having a deaf mute dad, and was made fun of for it. Eventually she gets fed up and commits suicide, and her father gives a lethal amount of blood to save her. That one kinda spoke more to me
Wow, that's an awesome ad. I kind of hate the fact that such "inspiring' things are created in pursuit of commercial gain. That aside, still powerful though. However....
I know it's a minor difference, but I feel it's important. Repetition is not the same as diligence. You can repeat a lot of things, and not garner the same sort of reward. For a short TV spot, direct repetition was important here, but in overall story telling, I'd argue that the bigger lesson is showcasing the protagonist's diligence. He continues to do good, without reward. But eventually, karma is returned to give him his bounty. It doesn't matter if he helped the same woman/cart/beggars/etc. or a thousand different small deeds. What makes this powerful is that he continued to give, despite any suffering or lack of resources on his own part, not that he continued to give to the same people. In some ways, I think it would've been more powerful if was a different girl begging everyday, a different woman with a stuck cart. It is his unwavering commitment that speaks to me, not merely the repetition he's fallen into.